Ottawa and Niagara Falls revolt over rumours of special treatment for Toronto casino

Ottawa and Niagara Falls revolt over rumours of special treatment for Toronto casino

Embittered by reports that Toronto will get a sweeter deal on its casino than anywhere else in the province, Ontario mayors rose up in revolt Friday against the perceived favouritism of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG).

On Friday evening, Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne stepped in to calm the fury by disavowing the report, which was first published in the Globe and Mail.

“There will be no special deal for Toronto in connection with any proposed casino development,” she wrote in a statement.

The Globe’s Thursday report intimated that Toronto could expect to rake in fees “more than double those offered to other municipalities,” prompting an outpouring of criticism from communities with existing or planned casino projects.

“I strongly disagree with the OLG’s suggestion that it is planning to introduce preferential revenue sharing for the City of Toronto that, by function, would discriminate against all other municipalities,” wrote Ottawa mayor Jim Watson in a letter to OLG chair Paul Godfrey, drafted in both French and English.

Mr. Watson added that he would push to kill plans for an Ottawa casino unless he could be assured the same deal as Toronto.

The sentiment was echoed in the gaming centre of Niagara Falls, where Mayor Jim Deodati told the Niagara Falls Review, “I think this is disingenuous. [OLG] brought us to the dance and I feel they’ve left us at the altar.

[OLG] brought us to the dance and I feel they’ve left us at the altar

Speaking to the Ottawa Citizen on Friday, OLG chief executive Rod Phillips disregarded all claims of Toronto bias, saying “the approach is going to be consistent.”

Toronto casino revenue would indeed dwarf that of Ontario’s five existing casinos, but only because Toronto’s casino will be much, much larger: Some initial concepts are forecasting a $4 billion, waterfront casino complex.

In the words of Premier Wynne, “the hosting fee for Toronto would reflect the size and scale that global gaming companies have confirmed is possible in the city.”

In January, Paul Godfrey, who is also the president and CEO of Postmedia Network, told a gathering of Toronto-area business leaders that the city could expect as much as $50-$100 million in hosting fees from a downtown casino.

By contrast, Niagara Falls receives about $3 million in fees for its two casinos. In Ottawa, where a casino has yet to be built, hosting fees were projected to be only $4 million.

Preferential or not, only in Windsor did local politicians seem to be on board with special treatment for Toronto. In the late 1990s, the border city struck a “favoured-nations” clause with the OLG that would boost their revenue share should another municipality get a better deal.